Easter, Birthday and More....

Okay I admit I've been such a slacker lately when it comes to blogging! I have so much to post, pictures and all. I'm warning this could be a picture overload:) Our family has been pretty busy lately with dance, swimming lessons, Women's Conf. and me being 7 mo pregnant! We are all well and enjoying this spring weather even if it has been raining lately.

We had a wonderful Easter. We stayed at our house and the girls were really excited about the whole ordeal. Tracy hid eggs in the backyard for them to find. They had a blast!! In fact the next day Tessa and Afton were out playing and they found another egg that they had missed. Tessa was so excited:)Besides having a wonderful Easter, we celebrated Hailee's 7th birthday. I can't believe she is already 7 yrs old. It seems like yesterday that she was born. She has been such a blessing in our lives. We waited 6 yrs to have her....the wait was worth it!! Some things I LOVE about Hailee are:

--She is a great helper, she is one who cleans up after herself

--She is a great big sister and loves to play and keep her sisters entertained

--Loves animals and has such a tender heart

--She loves to learn and read

--She says wonderful prayers, and loves going to church

--Is kind to everyone she meets

--Excels at whatever she puts her mind to

We had a family party with just us and then later she had a friend party where two of her cousins were able to come. My sister Kim and her daughter Grace came that weekend from Utah and we had a great time. We took them to Shoshone Falls and the water was really full and the pictures turned out beautiful!

Hailee's dad sent her flowers at school:)

The beautiful falls!

Time Change

So I have to say I don't like it when the time changes Spring or Fall. Maybe because my kids have a very hard time adjusting and then they take it out on me!:/ We are all doing well even if the time changes and we lose sleep! Ha! I'm just getting bigger by the day. I'm now 25 wks and counting. The doctor wants to do another ultrasound for a precaution due to my last pregnancy that I had too much fluid. I know deep down they just want my money! I'm feeling really good this pregnancy I can't complain much. I do have to say I get easily agitated and irritable. My poor husband and kids. Tracy keeps asking me, "Why are you being grouchy?" And I keep telling him "I don't mean too, it must be the extra hormones running through my body." He doesn't quite get it. Oh well!! We are SO excited to meet our little boy! Tessa is my lover and is constantly kissing my belly and talking to the baby. She is so funny:) Afton will have a hard adjustment when he arrives. She is such a "mommy's" girl and doesn't want to give her status up:)

Hailee did pretty well in gymnastics this year. She didn't quite make state, but she doesn't understand all that yet. I can't believe she is almost 7 yrs. Tessa is still in dance and tumbling and says she wants to try something new after May. She says she wants to be fish and live in the ocean. I think I'll start swimming lessons again soon:) Afton is growing and talking more. She is VERY independent and stubborn. She is a lover also, but she can be a stinker. Tracy is plugging along and staying pretty busy. We are hoping more work comes his way soon. We hope all is well with family and friends. I love this time of year, and look forward to a wonderful year!

Tessa fell asleep under our table and chair as I was having a meeting

Asleep again in the car!

The Verdict

Okay so I'm finally posting the news of the sex of our baby...we are so excited to welcome a BOY to our home. The girls went with Tracy and I to the ultrasound appt on the 18th. Tracy had a bet with them that if it is a boy he would buy them an icecream cone, and if it is a girl they have to buy him one with their own money. Guess who one! The girls were not only excited to have a brother but also to have an icecream cone! I thought that was so cute of him to do that:) A couple days later my mom and sister Jen came to visit. Jen has 2 girls and a boy. We had such a fun time other than the normal drama that happens when I have her come visit! HA! Afton started a fever Fri and then broke out with herpes sores a throughout her mouth. I felt so bad for her. The virus is called Primary Herpetic Gingivastomatitis. Very painful!! It is a week later and she still is hurting but I think she is on the mend. Hailee and Tessa had a blast with Peyton and Meg. I'm sure you have read Jen's blog, but the drama of Jen having a sinus infection, Meg throwing up, and Afton's sores was enough for all of us. Needless to say we still had fun shopping for a little boy in my tummy and me not having a clue how to shop for one:) Staying up late and playing games! Tracy giving us a break and taking the girls to Dairy Queen for icecream cones and DI to buy stuff animals. He was wonderful to take on 5 girls! We love having family and friends come stay with us! Okay who is next to come????

I have to add two more cute photos of my nephew Drake, Tessa and Afton. It was fun having him over for a few hours one morning so his mom could get some rest after having his baby sister Elsie! We love you Drake!

Pregnancy and Fun

So as you will see my belly is growing. I am now 19 wks, almost halfway done! We are excited to have a new addition to our family. The girls are set on having a brother...we will see:) My ultrasound is on the 18th of Feb, and hopefully the baby cooperates. The girls are excited to go with myself and Tracy to the Drs. Tessa can't wait to change diapers and is always talking to my belly and kissing it! She is so cute about it. Today she asked me, "Mom when you get the baby out does it hurt?" I stuttered and said, "yes it does." (I haven't had the talk to Hailee and Tessa on how babies come out), thankfully she didn't say anymore but "Oh." And then it when on too... "Does all babies have belly buttons?" She makes me smile all of the time:) She is curious about everything.

*This picture was a couple of weeks ago

We have had a great time traveling with Hailee and going to her competions. We went to Boise a few times and was able to take my niece Shelby with us. She is the same age as Hailee and we had a great time eating, swimming and watching Hailee. Shelby also turned 7 yrs when we were there and we went out to eat at Wingers and they sang to her! The girls had so much fun:) Hailee is getting better and does really well on floor and vault. She is improving on beam and bars. We leave Friday to go to Idaho Falls and her meet is Sat in Shelly, ID. We hope this meet she qualifies for state, which will be the end of March in Pocatello.

Snow and Fun!!

Our family decided that we needed to get out of the house and do something fun, so we made plans to use our new sleds and go sledding in the South hills which are by our house. Our friends called us that same week and asked us if we wanted to go Snow Mobiling also. Of course we weren't going to pass that up!

Hailee had her gymnastics meet in Twin Falls on Jan 10Th and did pretty well. She was pretty nervous that morning. It was fun watching her on the floor, beam, bars and vault. She scored pretty good on the vault and floor. We need to work on her routines and skills on beam and bars. My friend and I decided to have our girls take a couple of private lessons so they can really work on their skills by their next competition. I think if she sticks with gymnastics she will do really well. We'll see....It was fun having Tracy's brother Thane and his wife Simone come and watch Hailee. Also Hailee's friend Claire came. It was a fun morning.

After we left we hurried and ate lunch and headed to the hills to have some snow fun. When we got there and got out of the car to get our snow gear on, I noticed Tessa forgot her coat. What??! I couldn't believe it. I asked Tessa "Why did you forget your coat?" She said, "Because it is not that cold outside." I just had to laugh and then hand over my big sweatshirt I brought. We had a fabulous time sledding and then taking Tessa and Hailee on the snowmobiles. Our friends the Howe's had an EXTRA EXTRA big coat that Tessa wore. After we were done sledding we had yummy hamburgers and chips in their trailer. Thank you Terry and Shauna for such a fun time!

Our Holiday....

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I hope all of you did also. My kids were so excited to have Santa come, except for Afton. She wanted nothing to do with him. At our ward Christmas party I tried everything to get her to sit on his lap, and she would say "No mama!" quite loudly I might say. She is a pretty stubborn girl, so when she sets her mind to something she usually won't budge.

When we came home from the party, she found out Santa actually gives treats. So she looks up at me and says "Mom I sit on Santa's lap and then get a treat!" After she found out sugar was involved she wanted to see Santa. Yeah right, tried that and it didn't work, maybe next year....

My kids were all excited about what they received this year. We didn't do as much as we have in the past and they didn't mind a bit. They all got one or two movies, and other things ,and the hit this year was believe it or not......HAIRSPRAY!!

Hailee and Tessa sing and dance to the movie, I think we have watched it a dozen times since Christmas. Even Afton will get up and dance. They are so cute:)

I love this time of year, and was so glad we had snow on Christmas, even though it has now pretty much melted. I love to see my kids and husband happy, and that's exactly what happened. We also have a tradition on New Year's day if the kids are good between Christmas and New Year's the elf Johnny Green comes and leaves one last gift. They were good and they were excited to get new sleds. Now we have to wait for some more snow! We were quite blessed this year, and I hope all of you were also. If you don't know, Tracy and I are adding to our kid clan, and we will be having a baby in July. My due date is July 4th. We are excited and nervous at the same time. That is one reason I haven't blogged as much as I have wanted....I haven't been feeling too well. Anyway, I'll be quiet and add some pics of Christmas!

My Life....

Okay so I'm a great big slacker in the blogging department. It seems like lately I haven't had any time blogging or updating anything. So I'm going to try harder...

Our family in doing really well. We have been to two of Tessa's dance recitals, gym meet in Boise for Hailee, and celebrated Afton's 2nd birthday in Utah at Grandpa and Grandma Nelson's house. We have had too much fun at all these events. Our kids make us laugh on a daily basis, and we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves if we never had children.


Here is Afton when she was really little...and now my baby is 2yrs old!!


She had a great birthday with all of her cousins in Utah...We miss our cousins a lot!

Tessa LOVES dance. It was so fun to watch her dance and sing "Up on the Housetop." She was so animated and sung so loud for everyone to hear. She is so fun!

Our girls have been so much fun this year. I think Santa may be stopping by at our house:) I know that the girls are expecting him...so he better come through.